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Giant trees become dugout canoes
The chips are flying again at Lake Attersee: Where around 8,000 years ago the pile dwellers sailed across the lake in dugout canoes, two new boats based on Stone Age models are now being built.
Giant trees become dugout canoes
The “Pfahlbau am Attersee” association continues the ancient tradition with the support of the Austrian Federal Forests (ÖBf) and the Natural History Museum (NHM): The unique wooden pieces are made from two silver fir trees that are over 130 years old and which were harvested by the Federal Forests in the Loibichl forestry district on Attersee. "The forest has always been one of the most important sources of human life - wood was indispensable as a construction and fuel since the Stone Age and remains so to this day. The dugout project brings a piece of history to life here on Lake Attersee," says Andreas Gruber, Board Member for Forestry and Nature Conservation at the Federal Forests, which not only manage the surrounding forests but also Lake Attersee sustainably. While one dugout canoe is made by the pile-dwelling association using modern tools, a team led by experimental archaeologist Wolfgang Lobisser makes the second dugout canoe primarily using replica prehistoric tools. In this way, the scientists are reviving a craft that is thousands of years old. In 2011, UNESCO declared several particularly well-preserved pile-dwelling settlements on Lake Attersee to be world cultural heritage sites.
Typical tree species
Two particularly powerful giant trees with a height of over 40 meters and a circumference of up to 3.5 meters are being used for this extraordinary project. In order to find the right specimens, the Federal Forestry staff intensively searched for suitable trees and found them in the municipal areas of Innerschwand and Unterach. "The silver fir is a tree species with a long tradition that is typical of the region. It is stable, easy to work with and therefore ideal for producing dugout trees. This shows the diverse role our forests play in the region," says Laurenz Aschauer, head of the ÖBf Traun-Innviertel forestry operation.
Stone Age tools meet chainsaw
The work on the two trunks takes a total of around two weeks. Research, practice and history come together on the Seewalchner lake promenade: one of the two tribes is predominantly worked with reconstructed Stone Age tools made of wood, stone, iron or bronze, while on the other the craftsmen from the Pfahlbau association on Attersee and the Seewalchner farmers rely more heavily on chainsaws. "A total of around 600 hours of manual work goes into a dugout canoe - from flattening the hull to hollowing out the trunk. Our aim is to bring this original character back to life and make it visible and understandable for everyone," explains Gerald Egger from the Attersee Pfahlbauverein.
From the lake back to the country
After the initial processing, the dugout blanks, the so-called “beaters”, are sunk into the Attersee for several months. Watering causes the wood to calm down and becomes more resistant to sun, wind and rain. The dugout canoes will finally receive their final touches in the summer of 2026. Their next big appearance will be as part of a dugout regatta, which, like in 2016, is expected to attract numerous visitors to Lake Attersee.
UNESCO World Heritage pile dwellings on Lake Attersee
Wooden pile dwellings, also known as lakeside settlements, were a typical form of settlement in the Alpine region in the Neolithic period. The remains of more than 30 pile-dwelling villages have so far been found on Lake Attersee. Protected under water and by sediment, wood, tools and everyday objects have been surprisingly well preserved for thousands of years. The oldest known dating can be found in Seewalchen in the area of the diving tower and dates back to 3,990 BC. In 1870, the first pile dwelling in Upper Austria was also found in Seewalchen am Attersee, directly at the outlet of the Ager. In 2011, the sites on Lake Attersee, along with others in six countries, were declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The “Pfahlbau am Attersee” association conveys this heritage in a lively manner and ties in with the Stone Age tradition with the dugout canoes. This makes it clear how closely life, forest and water were connected back then.(gh)
